I'm getting old....
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And due to some health problems Im' not in very good shape today. (trying to rectify that at this time).... what I mean is: I didn't accompany them on this hike.
That was ok with me, however... because I put my oldest grandson in charge of the hike... he loved it, the responsibility. He loves the ranch as much as I do, maybe more... since he was born he has been with me traveling to my ranch, hiking, shooting, he 'knows' the outdoors. This was 'his' rite of passage, you might say.
sorry for the lead-in, helps to answer, however:
He carried a 12 gauge with him on the hike. I didn't allow anyone else to carry... they aren't fully trained in firearm safety. Mountain Lions are out of control on the ranch... and while they would almost never take on an adult, much less a group of people, if you stumbled on one by surprise, (which in these rocks COULD happen)... I give them little thought. Same with boars, a Mama sow, if surprised, would attack.
We always have firearms when we go to the ranch... 'target shooting'.... protection is mostly an after-thought. Personally I've hiked all over the ranch many times without a firearm. I won't go anywhere without a pocket knife, however.. not even Walmart.
So... personally? Not always, no. My grandson? You bet.. he was locked and loaded.
This next you can skip.. just a quick mountain lion story:
Many, MANY years ago I was bow hunting on my ranch. I took off from our camp about 2am to get to a place I had scouted beforehand. I arrived at the location long before the sun came up.... stalking quietly so as to disturb nothing as I set up at my location. I had prepared some brush to serve as a blind, and there I sat quietly waiting for the gray of dawn so I could scout the area for any deer.
As the sky turned gray I began looking around... a little further out as it slowly became day. Before the sun had actually risen I had seen enough to know there were no deer near me... at least not in range of a bow, so I decided to change my position... a little nearer a mountain spring I knew the deer would go to about mid-morning.
I had just risen, strapped my bow to my back, and taken one, maybe two steps when I heard a huge rustling noise just a few feet away from me... about 10' away from where I had been sitting for a few hours a mountain lion jumped from under a Juniper tree and sprang downhill.. not toward me, nor away. He, maybe she, had been there the entire time. Had he/she come at me it would have been mano a mano... no chance of getting my bow.
Most grown men could handle a mountain lion... but you would definitely pay a heavy price. That was the closest I've ever come to one even though I've seen many. - JamesJM
That was ok with me, however... because I put my oldest grandson in charge of the hike... he loved it, the responsibility. He loves the ranch as much as I do, maybe more... since he was born he has been with me traveling to my ranch, hiking, shooting, he 'knows' the outdoors. This was 'his' rite of passage, you might say.
sorry for the lead-in, helps to answer, however:
He carried a 12 gauge with him on the hike. I didn't allow anyone else to carry... they aren't fully trained in firearm safety. Mountain Lions are out of control on the ranch... and while they would almost never take on an adult, much less a group of people, if you stumbled on one by surprise, (which in these rocks COULD happen)... I give them little thought. Same with boars, a Mama sow, if surprised, would attack.
We always have firearms when we go to the ranch... 'target shooting'.... protection is mostly an after-thought. Personally I've hiked all over the ranch many times without a firearm. I won't go anywhere without a pocket knife, however.. not even Walmart.
So... personally? Not always, no. My grandson? You bet.. he was locked and loaded.
This next you can skip.. just a quick mountain lion story:
Many, MANY years ago I was bow hunting on my ranch. I took off from our camp about 2am to get to a place I had scouted beforehand. I arrived at the location long before the sun came up.... stalking quietly so as to disturb nothing as I set up at my location. I had prepared some brush to serve as a blind, and there I sat quietly waiting for the gray of dawn so I could scout the area for any deer.
As the sky turned gray I began looking around... a little further out as it slowly became day. Before the sun had actually risen I had seen enough to know there were no deer near me... at least not in range of a bow, so I decided to change my position... a little nearer a mountain spring I knew the deer would go to about mid-morning.
I had just risen, strapped my bow to my back, and taken one, maybe two steps when I heard a huge rustling noise just a few feet away from me... about 10' away from where I had been sitting for a few hours a mountain lion jumped from under a Juniper tree and sprang downhill.. not toward me, nor away. He, maybe she, had been there the entire time. Had he/she come at me it would have been mano a mano... no chance of getting my bow.
Most grown men could handle a mountain lion... but you would definitely pay a heavy price. That was the closest I've ever come to one even though I've seen many. - JamesJM
